As of November 7, 2006, Vietnam’s national flag will fly together with the flags of 149 other WTO member countries at Geneva-based WTO headquarters in Switzerland. Vietnam’s becoming a full WTO member will open up opportunities but also pose challenges for the country.

This event marks an important step in Vietnam’s international integration process which started in the early 1990s of the last century with its entry to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). During the past years, the world has witnessed Vietnam’s tireless efforts in climbing the integration ladder, from the regional to interregional levels like the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Over the past 11 years since Vietnam applied for its WTO membership on January 1, 1995, Vietnam had to conduct 200 rounds of negotiations including 14 rounds of multi-lateral negotiations with 28 partners. Worthy of note was its prolonged negotiations with the world’s large economies such the EU, Japan and the US. In comparison with other countries, Vietnam’s WTO negotiation process was rather long, difficult and complicated. It took China 14 years to complete the negotiation process. Russia experienced 13 years of negotiations but the process is not yet over. This shows  Vietnam is not slow-paced. On the contrary, the country has made a tremendous step towards becoming an official member of the WTO. This reflects the concerted efforts of the Government, relevant ministries and sectors and the Vietnamese negotiation delegation as well as the firm determination of the whole country to see its national economy integrate deeper and more comprehensively into the regional and world economies.

This is also an inevitable result of Vietnam’s steady economic growth in the Doi Moi (renewal) process and its national position in the international arena. By pursuing the goal of national independence, successfully implementing the renewal process launched by the Party and adopting the open foreign policy of making friends with all countries, Vietnam has secured a firm position in the world. Though it is not internally strong enough, Vietnam is very confident of its capability to integrate deeper and more comprehensively into the world economy.

As WTO general director Pascal Lamy put it, Vietnam has undergone a long and difficult process of becoming the 150^th member of the WTO. Its efforts to overcome the challenges have been praised and recognized by the world.

After joining the WTO, Vietnam can export its goods with preferential tariffs to all 149 WTO member countries. There is much hope that with its rising position in international trade relations the country will no longer be subject to unfair competition and unequal treatment in trade activities.

As a WTO member, Vietnam will be able to open a large playground for Vietnamese businesses. To be sure, they will face stiff competition, particularly in trade and finance with giant economic groups in the world and the losers will be out of the picture sooner or later.

Becoming a member of the WTO is an encouraging sign of Vietnam’s economic growth in the current renewal process, but it is not a magnificant breakthrough or a perfect therapy for national development. In fact, joining the WTO is not the final goal of Vietnam. It is just one of the tools for the country to push up its economic development.

The fact that Vietnam has become a full member of the WTO and is going to host the 14^th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is testimony to the country’s rising position in the international arena from which it can grasp new opportunities for national development in peace, stability and prosperity.